Last quarter, offshore drilling rig companies retired more rigs than ever before in a three-month period, according to one energy advisory firm. Embattled Transocean is sending six floating rigs to the junkyard that will cost it $1.4 billion. According to Bloomberg’s David Wethe, it doesn’t get much worse than this: There’s a major overhang of offshore drilling rigs ordered during the boom years prior to 2014, and there’s little hope that it will ever clear, even if offshore drilling recovers, which he believes is highly unlikely—at least not to any significant extent. Indeed, offshore exploration is still more costly than onshore, especially in the deep waters. In a lower-for-longer environment, E&Ps are naturally opting for cheaper resources. Yet this is by no means the whole picture. There’s still a future for offshore oil, and it’s not too bleak; in fact, in parts of the world, it’s rather bright. At […]